From the South China Morning Post, 6:40am, 22 May, 2020:
- ‘It is reasonable to be deeply concerned about Hong Kong’s future,’ US analyst says
- Predictions that corporations could leave the city for Singapore, Korea, Taiwan or Vietnam
The near-certain passage of a new Hong Kong security law at the National People’s Congress is a worrisome development that will erode the city’s global reputation and attraction as a corporate base, said business groups, security and legal experts in Washington.“If they’re not careful, they will kill the financial golden goose,” James Lewis, head of the technology programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said of Chinese government leaders. “And I think they will miscalculate on this. There’s an unwillingness to recognise that politics and economics are linked in this way and that people may trust the Hong Kong market more than they trust their markets.“Take that away, and the business flows to Singapore,” Lewis added. “It’s a shame.”Companies that invest heavily through Hong Kong, “will reduce and reroute spending”, added Derek Scissors, a China expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, because “their business and employees are put at risk by future mainland repression in the name of national security”.
Others agreed that Beijing’s proposed crackdown could lead to some businesses to move.This “may push institutional investors and private equity firms to consider neighbouring countries instead. Singapore, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam will all benefit, at Hong Kong’s expense,” said Euan Rellie at BDA Partners, an investment bank with a focus on Asia.“The new law is likely to come at significant financial and diplomatic cost,” he said. “We’ve seen the Hong Kong dollar weaken against the US dollar already. I expect the Hong Kong stock exchange will suffer.”....
....MUCH MORE
Earlier today:
Whoa: "Beijing will announce resolution for national security legislation for Hong Kong to proscribe secession, foreign interference and terrorism"
"Coronavirus threatens China's Belt and Road. What happens when it wants half a trillion dollars back?"
Kyle Bass: "All Eyes Should Be on Hong Kong | Opinion"
And recently:
"China's expensive bet on Africa has failed"
Covid-19: How Did Tedros Come To Be Head Of the W.H.O.? (Think China's Belt and Road Debt Trap Diplomacy)
"China updates its ‘Art of (Hybrid) War’"
See also:
Follow-up: "...African economy needs more usage of Chinese yuan..."
"How China is Transforming Africa Into 'New Factory of the World'"
"Natural Resources & Sleeper Cells: China’s Plan For The Next 5,000 Years"
